Heartfelt reunion for lost Leopard cub & mother in India.

An approx. 9-week-old leopard cub that got separated from its mother was safely reunited in a successful operation carried out by Wildlife SOS & the Forest Department near Nagapur village located in Pune district, Maharashtra.

For the sugarcane farmers of Maharashtra, December to March brings with it the harvest season. It’s a period of plenty, not just for the farmers, but for the leopards that wanders stealthily through the tall stalks, content with the easy access to water and shelter provided by the fields. It’s cub season for the wild cats, and the tall, dense vegetation, lulls mother leopards into sense of security which is often misplaced.

On Tuesday evening, local farmers in Nagapur village stumbled upon a tiny leopard cub just as they were heading back home from the sugarcane fields, after a day of hard labour. A growing population, expanding farmland and depleting forests have led to a manifold increase in man-leopard conflict in the area, so the farmers hurriedly contacted the Range Forest Officer, Prayjot Palve. The Wildlife SOS team operating out of the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Center was also alerted to this incident and a four-member team led by Wildlife SOS senior veterinarian, Dr. Ajay Deshmukh accompanied by a team of forest officers rushed to aid the helpless cub.

The cub was identified as a male, approx. 9 weeks old. After a thorough medical examination by Dr. Ajay Deshmukh, the cub was found to be healthy and fit for release. The team arranged for the cub to be reunited with his mother but initially received opposition from the scared villagers who insisted that the cub be taken away from the area for their own safety. However, they were more understanding of the situation on realizing that in doing so, the enraged and stressed mother would pose a bigger threat to them. the team carefully placed him in a safe box and installed a remote-controlled camera trap to document the reunion process, while monitoring the area from a distance.

Dr. Ajay Deshmukh, Senior Veterinarian at the Manikdoh Leopard Rescue Centre said, “At around 9:30 pm, a leopardess finally emerged from the neighbouring forest and we could only imagine her relief on finding her young one safe and sound! Wildlife SOS makes every effort to make such rescue and reunion operations possible. This also marks our 52nd successful rescue and reunion operation. Rescues like this hold a very special place in our hearts as it is immensely rewarding for us to know that this cub will now continue being raised in the wild by his mother and thereby have a good chance at a free life in the wild.”